Fix part I

August 28, 2015

The English language is a mess. And if you don’t like it, what are you going to do about it – fix it? Good luck with that.

More content below this sponsor message

In the early 18th century, a movement of grammarians and authors wanted to set up an official authority to regulate English, like French had in the Academie Francaise. But is trying to fix a language a good move? Linguists Liv Walsh and Thomas Godard weigh up the evidence.

There is more about this episode at http://theallusionist.org/fix-i. Say hello at http://twitter.com/allusionistshow and http://facebook.com/allusionistshow.

The Allusionist is a proud member of http://Radiotopia.fm for http://PRX.org.

Stay up-to-date with the latest news, stories and insider events.

Please enter a valid email addressOops, something went wrong!

You’ve signed up to receive emails. Please check your email for a welcome confirmation.